Web-feeding mechanism



July 6 1926.

1,591,418 M. B. FERGUSON Y WEB FEEDING MECHANISM Filed NOVQ 2 1923 Y 5 Sh'etSh-ei; 2

July 6 1926.

Filed Nov. 1925 :s shetslshe'et s Wwe VENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Juy 6, i926.

' UNITED STATES IPili-TENT oEFicE.

HILFORD B. FERGUSON, .OF IBROOKLYN, NW YORK, ASSIGNOR F ONE-KMF TO EDWARD HMS, QF BROOKLYN, YORK. I *I WEB-FEEDING iiiEcHANIsiii..

Application mea November 2, 1923. serial no. 672,293.

The invention relates to an improvement in web feeding mechanisms.

The object of the invention is to produce.

a web feeding mechanism having provision li for varying the amount of web fed during Y a given interval or period of actuation of the mechanism `by predetermined increments or decrements.l The web feeding mechanism to which the improvements of the invention are applied is provided with a pair of feed rolls adapted to engage the web between them and with means for advancing the web a predetermined length Yperiodic or other operation of the feed rolls maybe increased or,decreas ed by predetermined amounts.

For the purpose'of illustrating the principles of t'he invention vit will be described as used for the purpose of feeding a web of printed foil or paper to a wrapping machine. It is assumed that the problem is to enclose an article in a wrapper having 3Q printed matter on itY and that it is desired to have the printed matter occupy substantially the saine place on all the articles. Heretofore it has been -the common practice to supply such wrappers to the wrapping machine as separate sheets. The desidera ,Hence, .when it has been attempted heretofore to sup ly vprinted Ywrappers to a` wrappingmaciiine from a web gr roll the printed matter hasnot occupied he proper place on the article wrapped. For this reason it is customary, as pointed out above, 4to feed printedl wrappers to wrapping machines as separate sheets whenit` is desired that tlieprnted matter always occupy subtum is, however,to feed the printed wrapf stantially the same position on the wrapped-A article. 1 f. V v l By the use of the improved web feeding mechanism of the present invention printed wrappers may be supplied to a wrapping machine from a web or roll and the printed matter on the wrapper will always occupy substantiall the desired position on all the articles. T e means by which this. end isv attained comprise a drivenl member connected with the feed rolls, means for actuating the driven member' in onel direction to advance the web va predetermined length, and means operative to increase or decrease the amount of actuation of the driven member in order to increase or decrease by a pre-v determined amount the length of web fed. i

vMore specifically this means comprises two pairs of planetary gears operatively connected and arranged to have diiferentiall movements, and meansl for eii'ecting a planetary movement of the gears-in one direc-` tion to increase `the amount thelfeed rolls` The preferred form of the invention. is

illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the v improved web feeding mechanism; Fig. 2 is a lplan of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. l3 is a horizontal section, on an enlarged scale, through the system of planetary gears; Fig.'4 is a section taken along the line 4--4 of'Fig. 1, showing certain, parts' in plan; F

is a detail view of a portion o f the ratchet wheel and its detent; and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view ofthe driving planetary -gears to illustrate the principle of the increasel and decrease of the amountv of rota-v tion of the gear connected with thev feed j rolls.. y

The improved. web feeding mechanism, illustrated in the drawings, comprises a pair of feed rolls 10 and 11 mounted on shafts 12 and 13 journaled in the frame 14 of the als.

ig. 5 is a section taken along substantially the line 5.5 'of Fig. 1; Fig. 6A

ios

machine to which the web feeding mecha- K nism is applied. The feed rolls are adapted' *to engage between them-the web 15w ich is supplied from a roll not indicated in the drawings. When the feed rolls have been turned to feed` forward a predetermined length of web the .blades 16 are actuated from the mac'hine to which the mechanism 1s applied to sever the amount of web which the rolls have delivered by their last actuation, or during a denite period of operal tion depending upon whether. the rolls 'wrappers are cut oft'. The shaft 13 on *which the feed roll 11 is mounted is vided with a sprocketwheel 17 by which the roll is turnedv in va counter-clockwise direcy tion. The feed roll 10 is turned in a clock-v wise direction to cooperate with the roll 11 in feeding forward the web and for this purpose the shaft 13 is provided with a gear 18 whichmeshes with a gear 9 of equal size mounted on the shaft 12 which carries` the roll 10.

The means for driving the @rolls to advance the web a predetermined length comprise two pairs of planetary gears, a pair of driving gears and a pair of driven gears. The driven member 19 of the pair of .35 driven gears is loosely mounted on a shaft 20, lone end of which is journaled in the frame 14. and the other end of which is i journaled in the frame 21.y On the hub of the gear 19 is fixed a sprocket wheel 22 which is connected with the sprocket wheel 17 byjmeans of a chain 23.. The driving member 24 of the pair of driven gears is xed on one end o a pin 25 fulcrumed in the rim of a worm gear 27 loosely mounted on the shaft 20. The pair of driving gears com rises .a driving gear 29 fixed on the sha 20 and a driven gear 30 fixed on the other end ofthe pin4 25. Thus-the driven member of the second or driving pair of planetary gears is rigidly connected with the driving member of the first or driven pair of planetary gears; and the driving member of the second'pair of gears is fixedly mounted on the shaft 20, whereas the driven member ofthe first pairof gears is loosely mounted on the shaft 20. Consequently when the shaft 20 is actuated, the gear 19 is driven to turnv the feed rolls.; and inasmuch as the gear19 is loosely mounted on the shaft, it may have a movement relative tothe shaft. This constructionl is availed of to4 impart movements to the gear 19 otherv than those imparted. it from the gear 29, so thatthe feed of the web may be increasedl or decreased when that is necessary.

The shaft 20 is driven from the shaft 32 journaled at its opposite ends in the frames 14 and 2l. On the-shaft 32 is mounted a sprocket wheel 33 over which passes a chain 34 connected with a source Jof power not indicated inthe drawings.. Also fixed on the shaft 32 lis the driving member 35 of a Geneva gear construction, the driven member 36 of which is fixed on a shaft 37 journaled in the frames 14 and 21. The member 36 is provided with four radial slots 38 adapted to receive the rolls 39 carried by the driving member 35. yThe arc-shaped piece 40 .i j of the member 35 is adapted to engage with the arc-shaped depressions 41vin the periphery of the driven members 36 to hold the shaft V37`and the parts between it Iand: the' feed rolls stationary while theblades 16 are fbeing actuated to severthe length of wrap- `per which has been fed forward. On the outer end of the shaft 37 is mounted a gear 43 which drives the gear 44v mounted on the outer end of the shaft 20 through the idler gear 45. The direction of rotation of the v`various parts described above are indicated by the small arrows on Figs. 1 and 2.

1 The turning of the feed rolls 10 and 11 from the shaft 32 will be clearly understood by following the movements of the shaftsv and gearsv between shaft 32 and' the feed rolls.- If now the pitch diameter of the gears 43 and 44 is synchronized exactly with the spacing of the printed matter on the web, the web lwill be advanced lat each actuation` of the shaft 37 a length exactly equal to the spacing zof the printed matter. In such case it would only Ibe necessary to pull the web forward until one sectionx of printed matter thereon is in proper alignment with the wrapping or other devices and thereafter the l operation of the feeding mechanism would deliver the printed sections of the web to the .same position. However, it is seldom that it is possible to synchronize the gears of the feeding vmechanism with the spacing of the printed matter on the web. Moreover,

the spacing between the sections of printed matter on the .web is often not uniform, particularly if the web is cioinposedl of foil. Consequently it is necessary to provide the web feeding mechanism,'constructed as described above, with means by which the amount the feed rolls ,are turned vmay be either increased or v,decreased according to lwhether the spacing of the printed'matter' -on the-web is either greater or less thanthe length of web fed at each actuation of the feeding mechanism. l

The amount the feedrolls are turned may v be either increased or decreased by imparting a planetary motion. to the gears 30 and 24 about the gears 29 and 19,' respectively. If the gears 30 and 24 are moved ina clockwise direction about the gears 29 and 19 during -the regular web feeding movements of the gears, the amount the feed rolls are i turned will be increased. if on the other hand, the gears'30 and 24 are moved inl a counter-clockwise -direction about the gears 29 and 19-d1iring the regular web feedlng movements of the gears,the amount the feed rolls are turned bythe feeding mechal nism vwill be decreased. By shifting the fulcruxnj'" of the gear 30 in a direction opposite'tp the direction; in which the teeth of the ear 29 are moving the. amount of turn- -ing lmparted to the .gear 30 by the gear 29 l is increased and hence the amount the feed rolls are turned is increased. On the other hand, by shifting the fulcrurnlof the gear 30 in the direction in which the teeth of the gear 29 are moving, the amount o f turning.

imparted' lto the gear' 30hythe gear 29 is decreased and hence the'famount thevfeed rolls are turned is decreased. This mode of operation will be made clear from V.a consideration of the diagram shown in Fig. 7.

It is assumed that gear 30 normally occupies the position, 'with respect to gear 29, shown at positon X and that when the shaft 20 is actuated the rotationgimparted to gears 29 and 30 advances the. web the desired length. If now it is desired to increase the length of web fed during this rotation of the gears 29 and 30, the gear 30 is shifted from position X to another position indicatedvhy the dotted lines Y. The

v length of arc traveled by the fulcrum of the gear 30 about the axis of the shaft 2O duringthe rotation of the gears 29 and 30 determines the increment of feed ofthe web.

If gear 29 contains twice as many teeth as gear 30", tooth A on gear 29 will always engage tooth A on gear 30 at'the point indicated in full lines" while gear 30 occupies its assumed normal position. If now gear 30 is shifted toposition Y while both gears are rotating tooth A 'of gear 29 will engage tooth A of gear 30 sooner, and gear 29 will turn gear 30 while tooth A travels from its.

point of actual engagement with tooth A to the point where' it normally engages tooth A. Thus during the actuation of shaft 20 gear 29 imparts proportionally that much more rotation to gear 30. e

-On the other hand, if during the actuation of the shaft 20 gear 30 isshifted from position X to the position indicated by the dotted lines Z the decrease in the amount of web' fed will be proportionate to the arc traveled by the fulcrum 25 of gear 30. In this case it will be clear that before tooth A of gear 29 engages'tooth A of gear 30 it will have traveled inoperatively through the space traversed by theffulcrum of the gear 30 in reaching position Z. Hence gear 29 Iwill have failed to' turn gear 30 as much as when gear 30 occupies its normal position, and consequently the feed rolls 10 and 11 will be turned that much less and will not deliver the normal length of web.

The means for imparting the planetary motions to the gears 30 and 24 about the gears 29 and 19, respectively, comprise the' worm gear 27 in which the pin 25 is ful-l crumed and a worm 47 which meshes with the teeth -of the gear 27. The worm'47 '1s fixed on a shaft 48 journaled in the ends of the brackets 49 and 50 secured toth'e frame 14. On one end of the shaft 48 is mounted one member 52 of a pair of miter gears, the other member '53 of which is mounted'on n. shaft 54 journaled in the frames 14 and 21.

The -shaft 54 may be turned in either directionto rotate the worm gear 27 in either direction,and for this pu'rpose a ratchet de' A"vice is mounted on the forward end of the shaft 54. The ratchet device consists 0I a iatchet Wheel 56 mounted loosely on the shaft 54, a plate 57 the hub of.which is secured to the shaft54', and a 'plate'58 which frictionally presses the ratchet wheel 56 against the plate 57' by means of the bolts 59 and springs 60 (Fig. 5). The actuating member of the ratchet device consists ot a spring-*pressed pawl 62 mounted. in the outsol er-end of the arm 63, the hub 64 of which is loosely mounted on the shaft 54, The pawl is provided with a handle 65 by which the detent may be disengaged from'the ratchet wheel. T he ratchet wheel engaging end of the detent is of usual construction and the outer end ofthe arm 63 is slotted to receive a rib 66 on the handle 65 t'o hold the pawl 1n operative relation with the ratchet wheel. By withdrawingthe rib from the slot and vturning the handle to permit the rib to rest on the outer end of the arm 63, the ratchet wheel and the parts connected with it may be turned freely in either direction. The

g ratchet device is provided with the frictional connection between the ratchet wheel 56 and the plate 57 so that the shaft 54 and the parts connected with it may be turned in either direction while the pawl is in engagement with the ratchet wheel.' The shaft 54 and the parts connected with it are turned manually by means ofA the handle 67 fixed on the forward end of .the shaft 54.

The parts may also be turned manual'ly by l manipulating the handle 68 mounte the free end of the shaft 48..

The arm 63 is oscillated to turn the ratchet wheel 56 in either direction from the shaft 32 and for this purpose an arm 69 is iixed on the forward end of the shaft A32 nut 75 and so adjust the amount of oscillation of the arm 63. To hold the nut`f-75"`1n adjusted position the outer surface of the offset end 81 of the arm 74 is provided with series of depressions 82 adapted to receive a series of balls 83 whichare spring-pressed into the depressions. When the handle 80 is turned the balls 83 are received in holes in the hub of the handle to permit the screw 77 to be turned. l

It will be obvious that by shifting the nut 7 5 along the screw 77 the amount of oscillation ofthe arm 63 will be variedzin 72 as a 5 is t0 the.

The arm 74 oscillate's on the center and the nearer the nut nin 72 the less the oscillation of the arm '63 will be, and conversely, the farther away from the pin 72 the nut 7 5 is, the greater will be the amount of oscillation of the arm 63. And, of course, the amount of travel of the worm gear 27 in either direction at each actuation of the web feeding mechanism will depend upon the amount of oscillation of the arm 63. i

When a fresh web is placed in the web feeding mechanism and the spacing between the printed matter on the new web is different from the spacing between the printed matter on the webs previously operated on,

it is first necessary to change thegears 43- and 44, substituting 4for them other gears which will most nearlygive the required amount of rotation to the feed rolls to feed forward the requisite length offweb. The idler gear 45 is, as is usual ,in such situations, so mounted that it may be moved to adjust. itself to the gears 43 and 44, whatever their size. If the new gears -43 and 44 are synchronized exactly with the lgears which fed the web through the printing press and the web is not stretchedor contracted, the web feeding mechanismwill deliver the requisite lengths of wrapper with the printed matter properly positioned. If, however, the length of web advanced at each operation of the ,web feeding mechanism is less than the spacing between the centers of two adjacent groups of printed matter, the pawl 62 will be set to cause the worm wheel 27 to be turned in a clockwise direction and the nut 75 will be set at such a distance from the center of the pin 72 to impart to the arm 63 an oscillation sufficient to turn the worm gear 27 enough tocause the requierative reverses the4 position of the detent 62 so asv to cause the worm wheel 27 to be turned in a counter-clockwise direction. Usually several lengths of wrapper will be cut offl from the web vbefore the nut 75 is properly adjusted. When it is found that Athe various parts of the web feeding mechanism are properly. adjusted fte deliver the requisite length of web at each actuation of the mechanism, the machine to which the web feeding mechanism is applied is started in operation. If the spacing of the printed matter on the web is exactly uniform, the requislte lengths of web` with the printed matter properly positioned thereon will be vsevered by the-cutters 16. But the spacing lof the printed matter onthe websis seldom uniform for a number of reasons, and consequently is necessary for the operative to 'ascertain from time to time whether the printed matter on the severed wrappers occupies the proper position. If it does not, the operative will turn the shaft 48 by means of the handle 68 so as to turn the worm wheel 27 in either a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction, according to the position ofthe printed matter on the wrapper. The operative does this while the web feeding mechanism is ,in operation. The same effect can be produced by\manipulating the handle 67.

Having thus described the invention what I claim asjnew is `1. A web feeding mechanism having in combination, a pair of feed rolls adapted to engage a web between them, a shaft, a pair of planetary gears the driven member of lwhich is loosely mounted on .the shaft and is connected with the feed rolls, a second pair of planetary gears the driving member of which is fixed on the shaft, a second shaft constantly driven, meansthrough which the second shaft imparts an intermittent motion to the first shaft, means for supporting the driving member of the first pair of gears and the driven member of the second pair of `gears so that they will travel about their companion gears respectively, and means driven from the second shaft for imparting a rotary motion about the first shaftto the gear supporting means.

2. A web feeding mechanism having in combination, a pair of feed rolls adapted to engagea web between them, means including a system of planetary gears for driving the feed rolls to advance the web a predetermined length, and a ratchet mechanism connected with the planetary gears for increasing and decreasing the amount of actuation of the web advancing means to cause site increase ofl rotation to beI imparted to,A a greater or less length of web to be advanced during the movement of the feed rolls. -1

3. A.. web 'feeding mechanismI having in Icombination, a pair of feed rolls adapted to engage a web between them, a gear connected with the feed rolls, means for driving the gear-to actuate the feed rolls' to ad-v vance ,the web a predetermined length, said gear driving means including a second gear mounted to have a planetary'motion about the axis of the first gear, and means. including a ratchet mechanism actuated at each cycle of loperation of the gears for imparting aplanetary motionto the second gear in either direction to increase or" decrease to a predetermined extent the amount of web advanced bythe feed rolls.

4. A web feeding mechanism having in. combination, a pair of feed rolls adapted to engage a web between them, a set of planetary .gears for actuating the feed rolls to advance the web a predetermined length, means for" of planetaryV gears, the driven member of .h which is loosely mounted on the shaft and is connected with the feed rolls, a second pair of planetarygears, the driving member `of which is fixed on the shaft, a second shaft constantly driven, means through which the second shaft drives the first shaft intermittently,'a worm gear loosely mounted on the first shaft for supporting the driven gear of the second pair of gears andthe driving gear of thefirst -pair of gears, and ratchet meansactuated from the second shaft for turning the worm gear in either direction by predetermined amounts. h

6. A web feeding Amechanism having in combination, a pair-offeed rolls adapted to engage a web'between them, a shaft, a pair of planetary gears, the driven member of which is lloosely mounted on Athe shaft and is connected with the feed rolls, a second pair of planetary gears, the driving member of which isfixed on the shaft, a second shaft constantly driven, means ,throu h which the second-shaft drives the first sha t, a worm loosely mounted on the first shaft for supporting the driven gear ofthe sec-v ond' air of gears and the driving gear of the rst pair o f gears and connections between the second shaft and the worm gear including a ratchet mechanism for turning the worm gear in either direction to -a prev determined extent.

7. A web feeding mechanism having in combination, -a 'pair ofv feed rolls adapted to engage a web between them, a set of planetary gearsv for actuating the feed rolls to advance the webr a predetermined length, and means 'connected with the planetary gears actuated at each cycle of operation thereof for positively controlling by predetell'nined amounts the actuation of the feed ro s.

8. A web feeding mechanism having in combination, a pair of feed rolls, a set-of planetary gears comprising a driven mem-- vber connected with the feed rolls, a driving member, means. for actuating the driving member, a movablethird member normally stationary for controlling the amount of actuation imparted to the driven member by the driving member, and means operating positively actuating the third member vby predetermined amounts.

9. A web feeding mechanism having in combination, a pair of feed rolls, a set 'of planetary gears comprising 'a driven member connected with t member, means for actuating the driving e feed rolls, a driving no lat each cycle of operation of the gears for member, a third member for controlling the amount of actuation imparted to'1 the driven member by the driving member, and a ratchet mechanism operating at each cycle of operation of the gearsl for lactuating thel third member. p

MILFoRD B. FERGUSON. 

